I am new to this newsletter, but I just HAD to add my two cents worth. One
person wrote that they measure the distance of a 100 miler by using a vehicle
(I presume a Jeep or a pickup).
Please be aware that,if you have NON factory tires on your vehicle..i.e.
aftermarket brands like Michelin, etc, tires that you replaced the tires that
the vehicle originally had on when it left the factory, those tires can give
you a false reading on both speed AND mileage. Check it out on the next
"speedometer check" you see on the highway, but rather than checking your
speed, check the odometer. If you have a larger or smaller tire than what the
vehicle originally had on, your mileage WILL change. This is small in the
onesy-twoseys, but after a hundred miles, your count may be off by as much as
5-8 miles!!!
Also. I am a volunteer with the USGS, whose topographic maps are often
used to chart out a race. WHile I will not slander the USGS, realize that
sometimes the maps are off, too. Some of the maps are old-like about fifty
years, and most of them are checked by AIRPLANE. People like me will get a
map from the USGS and verify the various items on the map, but, even then, it
takes years and years for the US Govt to finally cough up the cash to print a
new map of "where the heck am I, State."
Uncle Sam cut the USGS right to the bone, so some of the maps are going to go
another fifty years before they are updated.
Point being-don't always believe what the maps say as to distance. I know it
takes time and effort, but the surveyors wheel is probably your best bet for
honest distance.
Besides, it's a good way to handle the detractors of endurance riding-you can
say, "Look, I have walked every mile of that trail, and the horses aren't
destroying it-the motorcyclists are!!"
Thanks, all.
Michelle